


Christmas For Three

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Last Tango In Halifax
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, making christmas traditions together, pregnant kate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-03 21:45:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6627688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate and Caroline enjoy some alone time together. Eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas For Three

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bella_farfalla](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=bella_farfalla).



> Originally written as a Christmas present for the lovely bella_farfalla who gave the prompt “Christmas”. I've played a bit fast and loose with the timelines here, but Kate is pregnant and Celia and Alan are married. Originally posted to Livejournal in 2014.

Caroline was supposed to be working, sat at her laptop in the kitchen organising exam schedules. Instead she was looking up designs for nurseries. This was _definitely_ not the future she had so carefully mapped out for herself, but somehow she couldn't find it in her to mind. Kate was without a doubt the best thing that had ever happened to her.

“Still happening then?” Celia asked, moving around Caroline to get to the kettle.

“My relationship, the baby or the decorating?” Caroline asked, failing to find the equilibrium she was looking for.

“I was just checking,” Celia said.

“Yes, to all three, thank you mother.”

“All right. I'm sure you know what you're doing.” As ever, her mother's tone of voice indicated she believed exactly the opposite of what she was saying. Caroline pretended she didn't care.

“Are you all packed?”

“Trying to get rid of us already?”

“No, just asking. I'd be more than happy for you and Alan to spend Christmas here, you know that.”

 _At least, I'd be happy for Alan to stay,_ Caroline just managed not to say out loud. Judging by the look Celia cast her way, she had a good inkling of what her daughter was thinking.

“The taxi's coming in half an hour,” Alan said, standing in the doorway. “So if there's owt you need to finish up...”

Celia closed the fridge door, though Caroline had no idea what she'd been poking in there for, and moved to give Caroline a quick peck on the cheek.

“I'll see you when we get back, then.”

“I'll come out to see you off,” Caroline said. She deliberately kept her gaze on her laptop, and away from her mother and Alan.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to put you out.”

“Twenty-five minutes,” Alan said, before Caroline could drum up a reply.

Celia glared at him, but left without another word.

“You'd think I was kicking her out,” Caroline muttered. “I told her I was happy to host everyone here this year.”

“I know,” Alan said.

“Where she got this cruise idea in the first place...”

“Ah, my fault, that. Just an idea I had and she ran with it. You know how she gets, sometimes.”

Caroline was hardly surprised, but she didn't say anything. Sometimes being the only sensible person in the family was a real struggle.

“Are you all, ready, are you?” Alan asked, unusually vague. Caroline nodded, although there were a number of things she definitely wasn't ready for.

“Kate?”

“Just doing some last minute shopping.”

There was a strained silence, then Alan nodded and pointed towards the door, which he then walked out of. Caroline sighed. It was going to be a very long day.

* * * * *

At last they had the house to themselves. It wouldn't last. Parents, kids, exes, step-family members, colleagues, random people that slotted their way into their lives, they'd all be back, making the present even more real than it had any right to be. But Caroline couldn't begrudge any of those interruptions when it cast the time alone she spent with Kate in such sharp relief.

Caroline snorted and reached for her wine.

“Share the joke?” Kate asked. She was padding around the kitchen, barefoot, and yes, glowing, as she put the finishing touches to her Mother's Special Vegetable Soup.

“Just getting poetic in my old age,” Caroline explained.

“You're not old.”

“Feels like it.”

Kate put the lid on the saucepan and moved over to the sofa. “You're not the one whose ankles have swollen up to the size of pumpkins.”

“They're not pumpkins,” Caroline disagreed. She tugged at Kate’s legs until Kate settled herself with her feet in Caroline's lap. Caroline planted a kiss on one of them. “More like apples. Really large apples.”

Kate laughed, which is what Caroline had been aiming for. The groan that escaped as Caroline began massaging Kate's feet was just an added bonus.

“We really have the whole houses to ourselves?” Kate asked, a blissed out look on her face.

“We do.”

“You are _really_ good at that,” Kate said. “Did you take a course?” She opened her eyes. “You took a course, didn't you?”

Caroline looked like she was going to deny it, but took too long. Kate smiled affectionately at her.

“Thank you.”

“This isn’t just about the foot rub, is it?”

Kate answered by shifting forward and very carefully kissing Caroline. Caroline smiled into the kiss and then reluctantly drew away.

“The soup will be fine,” Kate said, having correctly interpreted Caroline's thoughts.

Caroline took Kate's hand in her own. “I like this,” she said, “making our own traditions. New traditions. We should trim the tree together before we eat.”

“That sounds lovely. In fact,” she shifted out of Caroline’s lap and moved towards her bag, which she'd left on the kitchen counter. “I have something I'd like to add to the tree, if that's okay?”

“Of course,” Caroline replied, as she stood up. “It's your tree now as well.”

“If you're sure,” Kate replied, as if Caroline might still take back all the words she'd said before, all the things she'd promised. Caroline certainly understood her reticence, but it did hurt her heart to see it.

“I'm sure. What is it?”

Kate pulled the item out of her bag and then slowly removed the bubble wrap from around it.

“Oh, it's beautiful,” Caroline gasped.

And it really was. An exquisitely made angel covered in shimmering gold with wings that seemed to flutter in the light. It was more than a fit addition to the top of their Christmas tree.

“It's perfect,” Caroline said. She pulled Kate into a tight embrace. “Your perfect.”

It wasn't true of course. Neither of them was, and they would make plenty more mistakes before the year was out. But for now the lie was worth it. And this Christmas was just the first of many they would spend together.


End file.
